Militancy and insurgency anywhere in the world has less to do with religious extremism and more with the weak writ of the state in impoverished countries, exacerbated by the deliberate arming of militant groups by regional and global players

In this episode of ‘Behind the Headline,’ Mnar Muhawesh dives into the 1,300-year history of Arbaeen, a Muslim tradition steeped in resistance and sacrifice, and explains how the continued observance of this tradition is a direct defiance of groups like ISIS.

MINNEAPOLIS --- We hear it every day: “Why aren’t Muslims speaking up against terrorism?” “Where are the Muslims denouncing ISIS?”
The people asking these questions tend to ignore a major fact: Muslims are the primary victims of terrorism driven by Wahhabism, an extremist, politically motivated perversion of Islam held by groups like

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Mnar Muhawesh

Mnar Muhawesh is founder, CEO and editor in chief of MintPress News, and is also a regular speaker on responsible journalism, sexism, neoconservativism within the media and journalism start-ups. She started her career as an independent multimedia journalist covering Midwest and national politics while focusing on civil liberties and social justice issues posting her reporting and exclusive interviews on her blog MintPress, which she later turned MintPress into the global news source it is today.
In 2009, Muhawesh also became the first American woman to wear the hijab to anchor/report the news in American media.
Muhawesh is also a wife and mother of a rascal four year old boy, juggling her duties as a CEO and motherly tasks successfully as supermom. Contact Mnar at mnar@mintpressnews.com.
Follow Mnar on Twitter at @mnarmuh

NEW YORK --- FBI Director James Comey criticized the media last week for widespread, inaccurate reports that Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik used social media to publicly advocate for terrorist violence against the United States.
During a Wednesday briefing with reporters in New York,

The leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a speech an ISIS overrun mosque in what would be a rare - if not the first - public appearance by the shadowy militant.
Mashaal Radio has published a report stating that Daesh and Taliban group have announced Jihad against each other.
Nabi Jan Mullahkhil, police chief

The leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq during his first public appearance.
CAIRO — Three British schoolgirls believed to have gone to Syria to become "jihadi" brides. Three young men charged in New York with plotting to join the Islamic State

“Rather than assign blame onto the religious, we should determine what has pushed our disillusioned youth into the arms of radicals. Otherwise, we will remain part of the problem,” one human rights activist tells MintPress.

“Jihad is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that you hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows while you know not.” (Quran 2:216)
If Islam has been a source of controversy and inspired heated debate over the past decade, its philosophy forever

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Catherine Shakdam

Catherine is a political analyst ​and reporter ​for MintPress focusing on​ the Middle East and the rise of ​radical movements. The Associate Director of the Beirut Center for Middle Eastern Studies, she has contributed her analyses to the Middle East Monitor, Foreign Policy Association, Your Middle East, IslamistGate, Majalla, ABNA, Open Democracy, International Policy Digest, Eurasia Review and many more.